AT&T to limit video on network phones

AT&T just updated their terms of service and it has quite a few surprises in it that are sure to upset some of their more dedicated users. You see, they've imposed limits on the types of video applications that can be used on AT&T Wireless.

This means that any peer-to-peer file sharing services are blocked now, so downloading movies is a no-no. The ToS actually states that several service types are no longer allowed including:

"...downloading movies using P2P file sharing services, customer initiated redirection of television or other video or audio signals via any technology from a fixed location to a mobile device, web broadcasting, and/or for the operation of servers, telemetry devices and/or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition devices."

The real problem here is that such limitations could make it impossible to use totally legit applications like the CBS TV.com app for the iPhone. This isn't just affecting the BitTorrents of the digital world. The real focus here is to stop the Sling Media SlingPlayer app, which was set to be released for the iPhone in the near future. It makes it so you can relay your TV broadcasts onto your phone and control DVR functions from your phone. There's also new overage charges, so you'll have to pay $0.00048/kilobit over 5GB if you're on the 5GB DataConnect plan or $10 for an extra 100MB if you're on the 200MB DataConnect plan.